Skin Deep
by baka-chibi-puffs
Summary: Hermione is setting out to prove that a girl can get a guy to fall in love with her without being judged by whats merely skin deep.
1. Chapter 1

**Skin Deep**

It wasn't like I didn't want to be beautiful, I mean, who _wouldn't _want a supermodel's body? Never the less, I'd keep my books instead of beauty any day.

Or, at least that's what I told everyone.

Truly, I wished for a more alluring figure just like every teenage girl does. The whispered words in the corridors of my school seemed to haunt me perpetually.

"Have you seen Hermione's hair?"

"Does she even know what make-up is?"

"Why can't she even attempt to look less troll-ish?"

Oh yes, I had heard them all and I hated them for saying it. Did they really think reminding me of my lack of femininity would magically help me produce some, or that saying how much more Ron would fancy me if I'd just change this or that would actually persuade me to change?

And what was with everyone's obsession over me and RONALD anyway? I mean, its not like I _want_ him to fancy me or anything…at least, I hope I don't. Merlin, wouldn't _that_ be embarrassing. Draco probably has a rhyme all ready for the Slytherins to chant when we go walking down the halls hand-in-hand…that is, _if _we ever go walking down the halls hand in hand.

"Hermione…" Ginny called from the door to the girls dormitory "Hermione, what are you doing up here? Everyone's already down eating dinner."

"You go, Gin." I replied, pulling a large, old, beautiful book from under my bed. "I'm not really in a great mood right now." Instead of leaving like I had hoped, Ginny came to sit beside me on my bed.

"Knut for your thoughts?" she asked while she gently pried my precious book from my hands. Deciding to be difficult, I stayed silent and let Ginny guess at my troubles.

"It's about what Lavender has been saying, isn't it?" My breath caught in my throat, I had _completely_ forgotten about the rumor Brown had started about me on the train ride to Hogwarts yesterday.

"My hair isn't _that_ bad is it?" I whimpered, over the summer I had used a muggle home straightening kit and instead of straightening my hair it had just fried it. Now instead of being bushy haired Granger I was almost afro-head Granger. Lavender had said that Malfoy had hexed my hair to look like a dead animal pelt and now most of Hogwarts was casting me apologetic glances when I walked through the halls.

"Well—"

"Oi," a distinctly male voice hollered from the bottom of the stairs "Ginny! 'Mione! Get down to the Great Hall, Dumbledore has a special announcement."

"We'll be right down!" I yelled while I tried to fix my hair and make myself look less like a troll.

"You know…" Ginny drawled, her voice carrying a hint of mischief. "I could give you a make over, to get Ron to notice you a bit more. Who knows, maybe we can even do something about that hair of yours." Inwardly I flinched. Was that all anyone cared about? Beauty was something that everyone had a little bit of, whether it is inside or out. My gaze steeled as my mind went into hyper drive with my new observations.

"No…" I replied with an easy grin "I rather like my hair the way it is now." Ginny gave me an odd look but said nothing as we trudged down the stairs to meet Ron. Our footsteps echoed in the empty corridors as we rushed to the Great Hall. Ron and Ginny made pleasant chatter as my mind zoomed at 100 mph.

Hypothesis: If I can be hideous and attract a man who will love me, I can prove to the general population of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that beauty is _not_ just skin deep.

But who would I want to fall in love with me? Would I really be able to do it? A warm hand on my shoulder shook me from my reverie. Ron smiled warmly down at me and began a (surprisingly) fairly entertaining conversation on a topic other than Quiditch. I smiled as my stomach tightened painfully. Suddenly I knew the one and only boy I could ever test my thesis on.

Ronald Weasely.

I didn't fancy him much, but he was my best mate and that meant that we already loved each other in a platonic way, and that was a good start. But…how did he feel about me, would he let our friendship grow into something more?

The bigger question was could our camaraderie become something more without him judging me by what was only skin deep?

* * *

**A/N: First attempt at _any_ Harry Potter story ever, and also my first Ron/Hermione. This chapter pretty much sucks, but its just a prologue to a much better story, honest. -  
Review and I'll love you forever!**


	2. The Announcement

A/N: Before I begin I'd like to apologize fervently for my extreme lack of update. The notebook in which this story was written was lost and thus all inspiration died. Luckily I caught a nasty cold and in my boredom cleaned out my room and found the story once again. My cold also gave me stagnant hours of boredom which I have decided to fill with re-typing this story. Enjoy!

**ATTENTION!**

Anything bolded/italicized/underlined **_and_** centered is Hermione's thoughts.

**Skin Deep**

**Chapter 2: The Announcement**

When Ron, Ginny and I finally made it to the Great Hall, everyone was nearly finished with their meals. Ron pulled up a seat by Harry and began to pile large amounts of food onto his plate while simultaneously shoving some of it into his mouth _and_ talking to Harry (who seemed not to notice the half-chewed food spilling from his friend's mouth).

"Boys." Ginny whispered into my ear as she rolled her eyes and giggled. I smiled while filling my plate with a delicious assortment of various mouth-watering foods. Just as I lifted a forkful of food to my mouth, Dumbledore stood and the Hall grew silent (save for Ron's slightly disgusting chewing noises).

"Students, professors, and _honored_ guests," he began, his eyes containing their usually mischievous sparkle. Guests? I scanned the room for any unfamiliar faces. Standing in a deserted corner of the Great Hall were two beautiful and official looking witches, each accompanied by an equally impressive wizard.

"Oh, that blonde haired wizard is my cup of tea." Ginny mused aloud, causing Ron to choke on his food as Harry glowered at the aforementioned wizard. Before either boy could admonish her, Dumbledore spoke again.

"As some of you may have heard, Witch Weekly and The Daily Prophet are conducting a contest to find the best all-around witch and wizard," I exchanged glances with Ginny. Just this morning we had read about it in The Prophet, "Hogwarts is the next, and _final_, stop in their evaluations. Anyone who is interested in entering the contest, please meet with the head of your house." Two Ravenclaw girls jumped out of their seats to rush their Head of House, but the students seated next to them hurriedly pulled them back down. "At the end of the term, all of the participating schools will come to Hogwarts to attend a masquerade ball where the winners will be announced." A dull roar of whispers erupted as Dumbledore dismissed everyone.

_Yes! A perfect chance to prove to everyone that beauty doesn't matter!_

**Are you_ kidding_? The judges were gorgeous! They'll probably expect the winners to be as equally stunning as they are…**

_Maybe, but it's a best-all around contest, not a beauty contest_

"Great," Ron groaned as they walked back to the common room, "another contest like the Triwizard Tournament."

"Except without all the dangerous, life-threatening challenges and whatnot." Ginny pointed out cheerfully.

"It's like a muggle popularity contest." Harry observed "Usually, muggles vote for whom they'd like to win. Predictably, their votes usually go to the most handsome contestants. No witch or wizard short of stunning stands a chance of winning this contest." Two red-heads nodded their agreement.

"So," I began, trying to sound nonchalant, "What do you think my chances are of winning?" My three closest friends exchanged shocked and slightly worried glances.

"Mione, you're not thinking about entering, are you?" Harry asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"As a matter of fact, I am." I answered, shrugging his hand off. "You all think I don't stand a chance, don't you?"

"To put it lightly, Hermione, you're not exactly a Veela." Ron stated bluntly, causing Harry and Ginny to wince.

"Oh, I get it." My tone took on an angry sting, "You think someone like Fleur stands a better chance of winning because she's gorgeous and I'm not?" I glared at the flustered red-head as tears welled up in my eyes.

_Don't break down in front of him. Don't._

"Mione," Harry wrapped one of his wiry arms around my shoulders in an affectionate side hug. "He didn't mean it that way." Somewhere inside of the most logical lobes of my brain I knew he was right, but that didn't heal the wound that had been dealt to my heart. It was at this very moment that I began to doubt myself. Just how far would brains and courage take me in this truly skewed contest?

"C'mon," Ginny laced her fingers into mine, shoving me from my self-pitying thoughts. "Let's get you away from here before my insensitive older brother says something even stupider." Ron's withering gaze followed us until we rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. Faintly, I heard his voice echo thought the hallway as he asked Harry "What was _that_ all about?"

* * *

"At least you didn't cry in front of them." Ginny pointed out later that evening. After returning to the sanctity of the Gryffindor girl's dorm rooms we changed into our pajamas and Ginny had pulled out a rather large box of assorted chocolates from Honeydukes that she had saved for 'emergencies'. Now the colorful cardboard box was 1/3 of the way destroyed and lacy doilies were the only lone survivors of our vicious raid. 

"Well, you could have defended me." I whispered, popping another chocolate covered cherry into my mouth.

"Oh Hermione," she sighed, "You heard what Harry said. It's a _popularity contest._ Do you really want to endorse such a frivolous waste of time? After all, the Hermione I always knew cared nothing of her well-known status as 'the friend of Harry Potter' or 'Member of the Golden Trio'. My Hermione cared about passing her O.W.L.'s and finishing her homework a week in advance."

"I haven't changed, Ginny. My goals and morals are still the same. Education will always be first, don't you see? That's the main reason I want to enter. I overheard some of the third years saying that a large part of the scoring will be made up of general wizarding knowledge. If I can score highest in that category—"

"But Hermione, _why?_ This just doesn't seem like something you'd normally do."

Her simple statement rang true in my heart and I knew that I'd have to explain my 'scheme' to her. After a few moments of silence I used to collect my thoughts I reluctantly explained everything in full. Her reaction was just not what I had expected.

"I always knew you fancied him." She giggled and munched away happily on a toffee.

"Ginny! Is that all you've got to say?" I tossed a balled up doily at her and missed pathetically which sent her into renewed peals of laughter.

"So you don't deny it then?" She smirked devilishly and I fought the urge to scream.

"He's my best mate."

"So then you're only using him to prove a point?"

"Of course not!"

"So, you do fancy him then?"

A silence.

"It's one or the other."

"…Okay, so I do…" With a loud thunk Ginny fell off the bed and rolled around of the ground, laughing uncontrollably. "I didn't realize the situation was so hilarious." I muttered indignantly.

"Sorry. It's just _so_ obvious."

"Gee, thanks."

"Now," she composed herself and crawled back up onto my bed, tossing the box of chocolates onto the floor to make room. "About this contest. Beauty _will_ factor in, but you are beautiful, just not in the blatantly Veela way."

"Don't get any ideas, Gin." I gave her a suspicious look. "I want to win this despite appearances, remember?"

"Oh, you'll wow them _way_ before that. I have a plan." Her grin suddenly seemed sinister and as a wave of terror washed over me, I wondered just how she had been placed into Gryffindor when sometimes she could seem so sincerely Slytherin.


End file.
